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  • Citizen CATE 2024: Extending Totality During the 8 April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse with a Distributed Network of Community Participants
Title: Citizen CATE 2024: Extending Totality During the 8 April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse with a Distributed Network of Community Participants
The Citizen CATE 2024 next-generation experiment placed 43 identical telescope and camera setups along the path of totality during the total solar eclipse (TSE) on 8 April 2024 to capture a 60-minute movie of the inner and middle solar corona in polarized visible light. The 2024 TSE path covered a large geographic swath of North America and we recruited and trained 36 teams of community participants (“citizen scientists”) representative of the various communities along the path of totality. Afterwards, these teams retained the equipment in their communities for on-going education and public engagement activities. Participants ranged from students (K12, undergraduate, and graduate), educators, and adult learners to amateur and professional astronomers. In addition to equipment for their communities, CATE 2024 teams received hands-on telescope training, educational and learning materials, and instruction on data analysis techniques. CATE 2024 used high-cadence, high-dynamic-range (HDR) polarimetric observations of the solar corona to characterize the physical processes that shape its heating, structure, and evolution at scales and sensitivities that cannot be studied outside of a TSE. Conventional eclipse observations do not span sufficient time to capture changing coronal topology, but the extended observation from CATE 2024 does. Analysis of the fully calibrated dataset will provide deeper insight and understanding into these critical physical processes. We present an overview of the CATE 2024 project, including how we engaged local communities along the path of totality, and the first look at CATE 2024 data products from the 2024 TSE.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2308305 2231658 2511904
PAR ID:
10663333
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; « less
Publisher / Repository:
Springer Nature B.V.
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Solar Physics
Volume:
301
Issue:
1
ISSN:
0038-0938
Page Range / eLocation ID:
12
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
solar eclipse solar K corona solar instrumentation citizen science
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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    We present results of a dual eclipse expedition to observe the solar corona from two sites during the annular solar eclipse of 14 October 2023 using a novel coronagraph designed to be accessible for amateurs and students to build and deploy. The coronagraph (CATEcor) builds on the standardized eclipse observing equipment developed for the Citizen CATE 2024 experiment. The observing sites were selected for likelihood of clear observations, for historic relevance (near the Climax site in the Colorado Rocky Mountains), and for centrality to the annular eclipse path (atop Sandia Peak above Albuquerque, New Mexico). The novel portion of CATEcor is an external occulter assembly that slips over the front of a conventional dioptric telescope, forming ashaded-trussexternally occulted coronagraph. CATEcor is specifically designed to be easily constructed in a garage or “makerspace” environment. We successfully observed some bright features in the solar corona to an altitude of approximately 2.25 R⊙during the annular phases of the eclipse. Future improvements to the design, in progress now, will reduce both stray light and image artifacts; our objective is to develop a design that can be operated successfully by amateur astronomers at sufficient altitude even without the darkened skies of a partial or annular eclipse. 
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  2. ; ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences)
    The “Heliophysics Big Year” was an extended “year” when major solar events engaged the public. NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded several projects to educate the public on the science of the heliosphere and safe observing practices. In response to this initiative, we worked with other teams to create and disseminate accurate yet engaging information. We expanded our eclipse website (https://space.rice.edu/eclipse/) with activities, citizen science projects, resources, training videos, suggested equipment, and links to other compendia. We directed the Citizen CATE 2024 project, and trained state coordinators and their teams to use the specialized equipment and procedures. We trained teachers at local, regional, national, and international workshops, providing eclipse viewing cards, lenses for making “solar cup projectors,” a pattern for a safe viewing screen, and additional materials. With other teams, we gave presentations to the media at SciLine in San Antonio and hosted public events to demonstrate safe eclipse viewing techniques. The most lasting and impactful product was our planetarium show “Totality,” which was distributed free of license fees. More than 180,000 views of the show and its animations have been documented. We improved our space weather forecasting site (https://mms.rice.edu) and used our email lists (14,000+) to send out real-time warnings about the major solar storm of 10–11 May 2024. In total, we provided nearly two million people with heliophysics information. In summary, the federal/private/business partnerships meant that the events of this “year” were a fun, safe, learning experience for tens of millions of Americans. 
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  3. ; ; ; ; ; (, Geophysical Research Letters)
    Abstract On 8 April 2024, a rare total solar eclipse (TSE) passed over western New York State (NYS), the first since 1925 and the last one until 2079. The NYS Mesonet (NYSM) consisting of 126 weather stations with 55 on the totality path provides unprecedented surface, profile, and flux data and camera images during the TSE. Here we use NYSM observations to characterize the TSE's impacts at the surface, in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and on surface fluxes and CO2concentrations. The TSE‐induced peak surface cooling occurs 17 min after the totality and is 2.8°C on average with a maximum of 6.8°C. It results in night‐like surface inversion, calm winds, and reduced vertical motion and mixing, leading to the shallowing of the PBL and its moistening. Surface sensible, latent and ground heat fluxes all decrease whereas near‐surface CO2concentration rises as photosynthesis slows down. 
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